Pomegranate juice improves lipid profiles in diabetic patients

[Celebration]

I'd like to see this tested against statin drugs in long term studies. However, these type studies are more likely to originate in axis of evil countries than here.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15383223&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum

J Med Food. 2004 Fall;7(3):305-8.

Concentrated pomegranate juice improves lipid profiles in diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia.

Esmaillzadeh A, Tahbaz F, Gaieni I, Alavi-Majd H, Azadbakht L.

Department of Nutrition, Endocrine Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. [e-mail]

This study assessed the effect of concentrated pomegranate juice (CPJ) consumption on lipid profiles of type II diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia (cholesterol >/= 5.2 mmol/L or triacylglycerol >/= 2.3 mmol/L). In this quasi-experimental study 22 otherwise healthy diabetic patients, 14 women (63.6%) and eight men (36.4%), were recruited from among patients referred to the Iranian Diabetes Society. The patients were followed for 8 weeks to establish a baseline for normal dietary intake before beginning the CPJ intervention. During the pre-study period a 24-hour food recall and food records (recording flavonoid-rich foods) were completed every 10 days. At the end of the eighth week, anthropometric and biochemical assessments were done. Thereafter the patients consumed 40 g/day of CPJ for 8 weeks, during which time dietary assessment was continued. After completing the study, anthropometric and blood indices were again evaluated. The Wilcoxon signed test was used for statistical analysis. A value of P <.05 was considered significant. Mean (+/-SD) age, weight, and duration of diabetes were 52.5 +/- 5.2 years, 71.5 +/- 10.3 kg, and 7.9 +/- 6.6 years, respectively. After consumption of CPJ, significant reductions were seen in total cholesterol (P <.006), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (P <.006), LDL-cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (P <.001), and total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol (P <.001). But, there were no significant changes in serum triacylglycerol and HDL-cholesterol concentrations. Anthropometric indices, physical activity, kind and doses of oral hypoglycemic agents, and the intakes of nutrients and flavonoid-rich foods showed no change during the CPJ consumption period. It is concluded that CPJ consumption may modify heart disease risk factors in hyperlipidemic patients, and its inclusion therefore in their diets may be beneficial.

PMID: 15383223

[eleny]

1. It tastes great in orange juice

I used to love poms when I was a kid. Nice seeing the juice sold in bottles these days.

[varkam]

2. Totally

That POM stuff rocks.

[trotsky]

3. Actually there have been more than a few studies of pomegranate juice

here in the U.S., contrary to your dig.

If there's a substance in p. juice that can be extracted and made into a drug, don't you think those companies would be interested in it?

[Celebration]

4. Maybe

Maybe they are. But it is also possible that the whole juice is so effective that it would compete effectively with an extract made into a drug--and at a much lower price. As I understand it from looking at the literature, the juice is good for a lot of different things--prostate cancer prevention, cardiovascular, etc. Of course in our corporate press, we don't read about pomegranate juice, only that we should almost all be on statin drugs.